My Harlem Renaissance

Did you know?
The Renaissance, or ‘rebirth’ was a cultural movement that first had its roots in Florence, Italy, before spreading to the rest of Europe. While bushy eyebrows are in vogue these days, the fashionistas during the Renaissance period used to shave off them off or wear them pencil thin. But more importantly, when I think of the Renaissance period I think of the Female Harlem Renaissance writers such as Zora Neal Hurston (1891-1960) she was a folklorist, ethnographer, novelist, short-story writer, storyteller, galvanizing personality, and emblematic figure of the celebration of black culture by the Harlem Renaissance, Zora Neale Hurston not only wrote about but also lived the quest of twentieth century blacks to pursue beauty, individuality, and affirmation. Her writings, and her life, are characterized by a spirit of humor, contradiction, and imagination. Her books include Their Eyes Were God, Mules and Men, Every Tongue Got to Confess, Moses Man Of The Mountain just to name a few.

Alice Moore Dunbar-Nelson (1875 – 1935) work includes being a writer, teacher, and political activist who matriculated at Cornell, Columbia, and the University of Pennsylvania, Dunbar-Nelson was also one of the more formidable poets of the Harlem Renaissance, although her first published work was a collection of stories, poems, and essays titled Violets and Other Tales. The Goodness of St.Rocque and Masterpieces of Negro Eloquence as well a fierce and lifelong advocate for equal rights.

Geraldyn Dismond (AKA Gerri Major) (Birth–Transition Unknown) The self-described “publicity agent” of the Harlem Renaissance, Dismond was a University of Chicago graduate who later became the managing editor of The Tattler, where she wrote the gossip column “Between Puffs” as “Lady Nicotine.” She was reportedly a fan of wild nights, and once wrote that “Bacchus himself passed out before midnight and along about two o’clock the shade of Rabelais returned to its tomb with its head hanging low in defeat.”

So need I say that this period in time I’m especially fond of so many fronts. For one The Harlem Renaissance was the name given to the cultural, social, and artistic explosion that took place in Harlem between the end of World War I and the middle of the 1930s. During this period Harlem was a cultural center, drawing black writers, artists, musicians, photographers, poets, and scholars. This is what I whole heartedly love about this period of time